948 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECiS. 
and the body, including the head, consists of fourteen segments, 
together with a small fleshy anal lobe. The spiracles are placed along 
the sides of the body, almost throughout the entire length. 
Each larva is enclosed in a separate cell. From the downward po- 
sition of the opening of the cells, these larvee maintain a reversed po- 
sition, their heads being also downwards; they retain their situation 
in the cell, whilst young, by a glutinous secretion, and subsequently 
by the swollen front of the body, which fills the open part of the cell. 
They are fed by the females and neuters with honey, the nectar of 
flowers, or the juices of animal matter, previously prepared in the sto- 
mach of the winged nurses (or with small particles of more solid food, 
according to St. Fargeau), and with which they are daily supplied; the 
larvee opening and shutting their jaws, when approached, like young birds. 
When full grown, each spins a convex cap to its cell, of a delicate, white, 
and slender texture, and then becomes a pupa. The cells are of different 
sizes, according to the sex of the intended inhabitant-larvee, those for the 
females being larger than the others : the female cells are mostly placed 
apart from those of the males and neuters ; those of the males being 
often mixed, but in a small number, in the neuter combs. The egg 
state lasts eight days, the larva state thirteen or fourteen, and that 
of the pupa about ten. After the imago has been produced, one of 
the old workers cleans out the cell, and fits it for the reception of a 
fresh inhabitant. The upper tiers of cells, being first built, serve for 
the habitation of the neuters; the females, being produced at the end 
of the summer, occupy the lowest tiers. /%g. 87.17. represents the 
male pupa of V. vulgaris. 
Unlike the family of the ants, the British species of this family are 
nearly as large as those cf the tropics, the hornet being scarcely ex- 
ceeded in size by any exotic species. The specific differences of the 
British species of wasps require a more minute investigation than has 
yet been given to them. This can only be done by studying the habits 
of the different species, in conjunction with individuals of the different 
sexes from the nest of each. Thirty years ago, the necessity for such 
an inquiry was pointed out by Latreille, who added, “ Utinam ex- 
urgat alius Kirby qui hanc familiam elucubret.” (Gen. Crust. vol. iv. 
p- 143.) But the wasps still remain in as great or greater confusion 
than they were at that period. 
The common British species, V. vulgaris, makes its nest in banks, 
